Raymond Stewart
W hen Raymond Stewart was appointed as Albion manager in May 2000 the immediate reaction from most supporters was one of delight. The former Dundee United, West Ham and Scotland defender was assistant to Kevin Drinkell between 1994 and 1998, before taking over as Head Coach at Livingston. He parted company with them towards the end of season 1999/00, and was delighted to rejoin Stirling Albion. Two years later and only a last minute penalty miss by Queen’s Park Johnny Whelan saved us from the humiliation of finishing bottom of Scottish football’s lowest division. So what went wrong in the intervening years? Stewart inherited a squad that was in disarray following two seasons under John Philliben which had seen a massive turnover of players. He had to sign a whole new team in a matter of weeks and some of those signings proved to be disappointing. Instead of challenging for promotion in 200/01 Albion found themselves fighting a losing battle against relegation. A horrendous mid-season run ended Albion’s chances of sustaining a place in Division Two. The only glimmer of hope came from the performances of a few younger players; some of their experienced colleagues let the club down badly. Surely the Third Division would prove to be different? This time some of the summer signings looked to be promising but injury robbed us of the services of the likes of Nicky Henderson at a vital time of the season. Financial constraints meant that experienced replacements could not be brought in and by the turn of the year the team was filling up with inexperienced but enthusiastic youngsters. Enthusiasm was one thing but it could not match the strength and experience of our opponents. It was a depressing and monotonous experience to see our team turned over week in week out by the likes of Peterhead, Elgin City and Albion Rovers. The decision of the Board of Directors not to renew his contract did not come as any great surprise – results had been such that the writing was on the wall long before the end of the season. It is sad that Raymond’s time with Albion may be remembered more for these two seasons of doom and gloom rather than his fruitful and successful spell as coach between 1994 and 1998. |